Houston proposes allowing higher-density housing outside Loop

The city of Houston is proposing major changes to its development code that would allow builders to create more urban-style housing outside Loop 610.

The revisions include expanding the city's designated "urban area" to Beltway 8 and requiring additional parking in higher-density developments.

Many of the proposals to change the building code, also known as Chapter 42, were made in 2009 after the city formed a committee to review the regulations. Then, the city said the amendments were prompted in part by indications that pressure for denser new development was spreading beyond Loop 610.

If the changes are approved, certain developments common in Houston's inner city, such as compact clusters of townhomes, would be allowed outside the Loop, too. Under the current rules, minimum lot sizes in suburban areas are larger than they are inside the Loop.

The changes would allow developers to build on smaller lots throughout all the areas inside the city limits within Beltway 8.

Neighborhoods, however, would be given more tools to protect their traditional character, such as procedures to petition for minimum lot sizes. Those with existing deed restrictions would have even more protection.

The proposed changes could also take some pressure off housing prices.

"If you can put a few more homes on a lot, you're able to sometimes keep those price points down where you can provide some affordability," said Suzy Hartgrove, a spokeswoman for the city's Planning & Development Department.

As part of the changes, builders would also be required to add one guest parking space for every six units in townhome-style developments.

None is required currently.

A public hearing on the proposed changes is scheduled for Dec. 7.

If approved, the revised ordinance would contain the first major revisions to Chapter 42 in more than a decade.

Pieces of the code have been altered over the years, but the last "real wholesale change" came in 1999 when the city drew a formal distinction between urban and suburban development, Hartgrove said. The Inner Loop is considered urban.

Hartgrove said the proposed revisions never went before City Council, in part because the city was changing mayors and the vote "got put off until now."

Mike Dishberger, townhome developer and president of the Greater Houston Builders Association, who served on the city committee that worked on the revisions, said the proposed changes could actually result in less development inside the Loop.

That's because there's more available land in the suburban areas, he said, and the loosened density restrictions will allow them to build more homes in smaller spaces.